Significant digits

With 2016 in the rear-view, it’s time to look back at some of significant digits that defined us and what we do. Mass participation in road races may have reached its peak, and road races are hungry to stay relevant among today’s youth. It was also an Olympic year, where we saw ANDRE DE GRASSE help set two Canadian records in the 200m and 4x100m relay, and where MELISSA BISHOP and GENEVIEVE LALONDE broke the Canadian 800m and 3,000m steeplechase records, respectively. Globally, records also continue to fall. Millennnials are becoming a significant force in the world of recreational running, and new technologies like Strava are taking hold. So between materials like the Athletics Canada’s Road Running Survey, the Running usa Millennial Running Study, as well as others, I present some digits this year that caught my eye. 2015 This was the most recent year available where we saw the first-ever decline in road racing participation. According to RunningUSA.org, every race distance saw a decline of at least 3 per cent. 2014 saw the all-time peak of 550,000 American marathon finishers. Still, total participation remains close to all-time highs, and many traditional road races like the BOSTON MARATHON are thriving. Interestingly, the largest participation declines were in non-traditional MUD OR OBSTACLE RACES that were designed to appeal to millennials. 2020 is the year I estimate MILLENNIALS will become the majority ( 51 per cent) of all marathon participants. Yet overall this group much prefers half-marathons or shorter due to a combination of shifting culture and income. Marathons are comparatively too expensive for a group that prefers to spend under $100 per race.